


curtain call

by fuckinglevi



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: ...probably, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Theatre, Gen, More tags to be added, No Romance, Platonic Relationships, yes this is a theatre au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 04:16:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19716028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuckinglevi/pseuds/fuckinglevi
Summary: a high school theatre au featuring the likeness of attack on titan - when hange forces levi to audition for the school play their freshman year, it turns out he's in for a lot more than he expected. four years more, to be exact.join hange, levi, and the rest of the cast in this collection of their journey through dedicating all four years of their high school experience to... the theatre team. everyone to their places!





	curtain call

"Hange, what the fuck! Let me the _fuck_ go - what the fuck -"

"Levi, would you shut up for one minute please?! I can't concentrate with all your complaining!"

"I'll stop complaining when you let me _go_ , you four-eyed lunatic -"

Hange stopped so suddenly that Levi crashed into her - and would have lost his balance completely if it weren't for the death-grip she had on his wrist.

"I think it's the other direction..." she mumbled to herself, looking around the hallway for guidance. 

"Where are we going?" Levi finally asked exasperatedly; Hange's sense of direction was famously weak. 

For a moment she debated answering him. It was meant to be a surprise, after all - but there was no point if they missed the deadline in the first place. She spotted a clock on the wall: 3:23.

"The auditorium," she admitted, now walking circles in the middle of the hallway and dragging Levi behind her.

"...you dumbass, we're on the _second floor_."

"Shit!" Hange would have laughed if the 3:30 deadline wasn't looming over her - instead she released Levi's hand and bolted for the nearest stairwell. "Okay fine, you lead the way - but don't get in front of me or try to run off!"

The two arrived at the auditorium with a few minutes to spare thanks to Levi's directions; Hange dragged Levi down the walkway towards the stage at the front of the auditorium. A cluster of students - much smaller than Hange expected - were standing on and in front of it, and a few more were scattered around in the seats.

"Does everyone have their audition forms?" a girl at the front of the group called, veteran voice ringing through the space with all the confidence of experience. Hange envied that confidence. The girl looked to be older than them; probably a senior, judging by the way she carried herself.

Hange raised her hand - the one that wasn't holding Levi's wrist in an iron grip - and the girl jumped off the stage, landing in front of Hange with ease.

Hange was damn near _starstruck_.

"Here," the girl passed a pair of forms to Hange. "I'm Rico, the stage manager. Break a leg."

Hange watched in awe as Rico walked away to hand out more audition forms. Her confidence was glowing - it almost seemed like arrogance, but that didn't make a difference to Hange. She'd always known upperclassmen were cool, but definitely not _that_ cool.

Excitement replaced any anxiety she had previously been feeling as she looked down at the audition forms.

"I need a pencil," she announced, dragging Levi into a suitable seat from which to view the stage. Levi stared at her impassively.

"Well? Give me a pencil!"

"Here you go."

Hange's head snapped up as a pink pencil suddenly appeared in front of her face. "Thank you!" she sang, snatching it and promptly trying to fill in two forms simultaneously. "I'll be quick."

The owner of the pink pencil waved her hand generously, her strawberry-blonde hair falling around her pleasant face as she took a seat beside Levi. "Don't worry about it. You guys are freshmen too, right?" she asked politely. "I'm Petra."

"Nice to meet ya, Petra!" Hange smiled. "I'm Hange, this is Levi."

Levi made no move to greet her - he sat slouched, resting his free arm on the rest of his chair, holding his head up lazily. 

"...are you two dating?" She gestured at the hold Hange currently had on Levi's arm. 

"Oh fuck no," Levi scoffed under his breath, glaring at Hange as she howled with laughter. 

"He's just the guy who does all my bidding until I get a better henchman," Hange explained. "Shorty, I need my hand back so I can fill out our forms. Don't run away, okay? Petra, keep an eye on him - he's a sneaky one!"

"Um... okay -"Petra began to reply, but Levi sat up suddenlyand turned to face Hange.

 _"Our_ forms? What do you mean, _our_ forms?"

"What size shoe do you wear?" Hange didn't look up. "Like a kid's size 6?"

" _Fuck off_ ," Levi replied automatically, swiveling to actually take in his surroundings for the first time. 

He hadn't spent much time in the school auditorium before; it was quite a large space, with a high ceiling and at least a few hundred seats in total. The seats were black and green - the school's colors - interchanging row by row, with a long walkway splitting the seats into two sections. It all looked well-used, but still very much like a real theatre. Levi frowned at the gaggle of students sitting on the stage's ledge, swinging their legs and chatting casually. 

"What is this, anyway?"

"Auditions!" Petra replied cheerfully. 

"What?" Levi turned to her; she tried not to shrink away.

"...for the fall play? Isn't that what you're here for?"

Levi stared.

It all made sense now: dragging him to the auditorium, meeting a stage manager, getting audition forms. 

Hange was going to force him to audition for a play.

Fuck. If he'd paid more attention before he could have escaped sooner.

"You filthy four-eyed bitch -" he turned, ready to rip the forms from her hands, only to find an empty chair where his best friend should have been. He looked around furiously - she was nowhere to be found.

He was just about to take off when he saw her out of the corner of his eye, clambering over the seats towards him like a demented spider. Rico stood watching bewilderdly, a pair of freshly filled-in forms in her hand. 

"My legs are longer than yours," she reminded him, spreading her arms to block his escape path. "Remember that when you're trying to run away."

"This is stupid and I'm going home," he spat back, clearly judging whether he could jump out of her range in order to make his escape. Her legs were decisively longer, it was true, but Levi ran track and had always been able to run for a lot longer than she could; all it would take was a little Houdini magic and a pinch of endurance and he'd be home free!

"Levi!" Hange gasped. "It is _not_ stupid! Take that back!"

The sharpness of her tone made him hesitate from launching himself into the next row - it was the one she used when he'd done something that even her famously thick skin couldn't handle. 

"Please do this for me!"

He looked back at her warily. Her expression was frantic, which was not unusual...but it was mixed with a little bit of hurt. He didn't like that.

"I really want to be in the play and look as cool as all those guys up there," she gestured haphazardly at the students sitting on the stage, "but I don't want to do it without _you_. And - and it'll be easy! All you have to do is read from the script! Please, you might even like it!"

"Hange, can't you just audition on your own?" Petra interjected hesitantly. "Does Levi really need to - "

"What?!" Hange gasped again, clutching her heart dramatically. Now she was really milking it. "Levi, did you hear this girl? I can't just audition on my _own_ Petra, who do you take me for?" 

Petra held her hands up in defense, but Hange wasn't done speaking. "We have to join the theatre team together, that's just... the rules, okay? Friends do things like this together!"

Hange tugged on Levi's hand pleadingly. He looked slightly less angry, but not entirely convinced - and auditions started in literally less than a minute according to the clock on the wall. Her heartfelt speech hadn't quite worked this time; she really did need to improve on her speech-making skills. She _needed_ to make this work.

Which meant she would have to resort to the only argument that would convince him. 

"Mr. Johnson is giving extra points to all of his students who audition!"

"...how many points?"

Hange grinned. She got him. "Ten."

She watched the cogs whirl in Levi's head. Ten points was a whole letter grade! If he got those points now, he wouldn't have to do the extra-credit English paper at the end of term.

His internal battle didn't last long. He sat down in his seat and crossed his arms, hoping this would be over with soon. 

Unfortunately for Levi, it wouldn't be over until nearly 5pm. 

Hange had already taken her turn, making sure she was dramatic as ever while doing it - she practically galloped onto the stage when her name was called and didn't hesitate to correct their pronunciation while she was at it - and as soon as she was given her cue, she was off to the races.

"O _wicked_ world! One that is well nigh worn to pieces with age... to show himself a young gallant. What an unweighted behavior hath this Flemish _drunkard_ picked - _with the devil's name!_ \- out of my conversation, that he dares in this manner _assay_ _me_?!

 _Why_ , he had not been _thrice_ my company! What should I say to him? I was then frugal of my mirth: _Heaven forgive me!_ Why, I'll exhibit a bill in the parliament -"

" _Thank you_."

Well, that was a bit rude - cut off right before she got to the good part, but it was no matter. Claps from a few stray students filled her ears as she took a light bow and ran off the stage as quickly as she'd run onto it.

"That's it, thank you! Casting will be finished tomorrow, come back to see the role you got!"

"Huh?!" Hange shot out of her seat as the herd of hopeful actors began their slow shuffle out of the auditorium. "But - you didn't audition! They didn't call your name!"

"Oh, right. Weird." Levi threw his backpack over his shoulder airily.

"He asked Rico for his form while you were auditioning...." Petra piped up, standing small behind Levi.

"You swindling bastard!" Hange yelled, swinging her messenger bag at him. "We were supposed to be in this play together! How could you do this to me?"

"I agreed to fuck-all, Hange!"

"Technicality!"

"How is that a _technicality_?!"

Their argument was interrupted by the sound of laughter; they snapped round in unison, ready to yell at whoever was enjoying their suffering, only to find Rico standing a few rows away and watching them with morbid interest. 

"You know what? I like you two. Come back tomorrow, I think I've got a job for you."

As Rico walked off before they could refuse, Levi cringed internally - now there was no escape. He was in for an entire day of Hange's begging.

And if history was any indication, he would have to give in eventually. 


End file.
